Bread-slicebi



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.4

ALEXANDER DICK, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

BREAD-SLICEBt Specification of Letters Patent No. 31,789, dated March 26, 1861.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER DICK, of the city of Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Machine for the Cutting of Bread into Slices of Any Desired Thickness with Exact Regularity and Despatch; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full 4and exact description thereof, reference being had to the drawings hereunto annexed.

Figure I presents an oblique front view of the machine; Fig. II presents a back and under view, such asis obtained from behind when the machine is tilted forward about forty five degrees; Fig. III presents a lateral View of the arm I detached.

A A, a a, (Fig. I) is a bread-table, in two parts; B B, a slide, moving in grooves between the parts A A, and a a; C, an attachment to the slide, carried by it in a vertical position above the bread table; D, a broad thin tooth, fixed transversely in thev slide B B-it may be the end of the metallic strip by which C is fastened to B, turned up in the proper shape and position; E E, a cutter knife, moving vertically between the parts G, Gr and H, I-I, the latter, I-I H, also forming a back to the bread table; F, a movable peg, which may be inserted at different points in the slide B B; I, the upper end of a lever, or arm, to which the knife E E is attached.

A A', a a', B B, H H, (Fig. II,) are the opposite sides of the parts marked with the same letters in Fig. I; L L, L L, are castings, so formed as to constitute both the frame and feet of the machine, to whichA the bread table and its back are fastened with screws; M M, is a toothed attachment to the slide B B, and extending under the plane A A', a a, by its own thickness; X, a double wheel, in one piece, with a common center, having teeth in both circumfer! ences, the smaller wheel is in position above the larger, and its teeth operate in the teeth M M of the slide B B; c, a wheel cap which holds wheel X in position, screwed firmly to a a. A projection of cap c extends to c, where the lever I hinges upon it; Y, a finger, or peg, fixed firmly in the side of the inflexible lever I at a point which may be one fourth of its length from where it hinges upon w; Z, a lever, which is attached by its upper end to the back H near its upper edge, and close to the knife-passage, it is bent so as to form three sides of a rectangle,

its two ends are fixed in the edge of a a, it

thereby incloses the lower end of the lever Z, and limits its motion; T, a thumb-screw, acting on the side of the lever Z; S, is a spring fixed in I-I near the upper end of the lever Z, and reaching downward, its other end holds Z in a socket. Its action is to raise Z from the plane'fH H', and away from the arm I, in the direction C) K. The end of the knife E is not fixed by the bolt N to one point of the arm I. The manner in which this is effected is shown by Fig. III; the bolt N passes through the slot WV, and the diameter of N being slightly less than the width of W, and the nut of N not screwed tight, there is thus permitted a free motion of the end of the knife E upon the side of the arm I, to the extent of the slot W. The result aimed at may be gained by other forms of the arm I, as, making it in two parts, one part a cylinder, or partly s o, moving within a tube of corresponding diameter, &c. l

The object of the machine requires it to be about eighteen inches in length, and nearly half as much in width. The length of the knife `blade should be about twice the width of the machine. The uses of the several parts of the machine sufficiently indicate the materials from which they may be made.

This machine is self-feeding. The prin ciple of its action will be readily understood. The loaf to be cut is placed upon the breadtable, one end against the part C, and pressed down so that the tooth D shall en- Yter `it and hold it in position; the loaf is then shoved by hand toward the knife until it touches it resting in its transverse groove in the bread table. The slide B B in this movement does not interfere with the edge of the knife, being made so that its upper surface is not only below the plane of the bread t-able, but also below the bottom of the groove in which t-he knife rests. The

knife is now taken in the right hand and' elevated; as it approaches its highest point, being drawn back nearly to its limit, the linger Y comes in contact wit-h the lever Z, the lower end of which is thereby pressed down upon the larger wheel X, the teeth of which are fitted to receive and hold it, and the pressure being eccentric gives moso fixed as to allow the lower end a free tion to the wheel, and consequently to the slide B B, and the loaf is propelled under the knife. This motion being sudden, the resulting momentum would carry the slide and loaf too far, but it is effectually stopped in this manner; the end of the lever Z is carried forward by the revolution of the Wheel X until it comes in contact with the right limb of the wire U, or whatever may occupy that position, by which it is stopped, and being still pressed by the finger Y, it crowds against the wheel X, and stops its motion. At this point the knife has been drawn back to its farthest limit-the cut is effected by bringing the knife down hori- Zontally with a forward and downward pressure of the hand, until its edge settles in its groove in the bread table. The next out is made by raising, drawing back the knife, and bringing it down as before. Vhen the knife each time begins to be brought down, the linger Y is removed from the lever Z, which by the action of the spring S in the direction O K is brought to its former position, ready to be acted upon as before by the finger Y. The slide B B is free to be shoved back when linger Y does not press upon lever Z. The thumb-screw T, according as it is withdrawn or put farther through, permits the lever Z to take in more or less of the wheel X within its limits of motion, and so governs the thickness of the slice. The finger Y may have a socket into which the lever Z shall settle when it arrive-s at its limit of motion to the right. This socket properly formed will combine with the action of the spring S to lift Z at once clear of Wheel X. The object of the slot W in the arm I is to allow the knife to be partially drawn back and shoved forward at any point in the cut, which is necessary to a satisfactory result in case the bread is very soft and spongy. The hooked peg F is to support the slices in position as cut.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- The arrangement of the slide B B, the wheel X, the finger Y, the lever Z, the spring S, the thumb-screw T, the wire U, the slot W, the tooth D, and the peg F, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

ALEXANDER DICK.

Witnesses SGHUYLER ALDRIGH, A.. I. DAVIS. 

